Darryl Jones Interview: On Bass With the Rolling Stones (audio)

In 1994 the Former Bassist for Miles Davis and Madonna Talks About His New Gig

Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Darryl Jones during the Voodoo Lounge tour. Photo by Max Crace.

At the time of this 1994 interview, Darryl Jones had just replaced Bill Wyman as the bassist for the Rolling Stones—a position he holds to this day. Before joining the Stones, Darryl was Miles Davis’s bassist of choice, and he’d toured and recorded with Madonna, Sting, and Peter Gabriel. On the day we met for the interview, Darryl began by saying “I feel like the luckiest musician in the world.”

According to Keith Richards, Charlie Watts was responsible for Darryl being hired by the band. “With us,” Charlie explained, “Darryl’s very much a rhythm section within a rhythm section. He doesn’t play on top of the arrangement. He’s underneath it, which is what we need.”

Our conversation took place during the Rolling Stones rehearsals in Toronto, where they were preparing to embark on the Voodoo Lounge world tour. During a two-day period I also interviewed Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, and keyboardist/musical director Chuck Leavell. Transcriptions of all of these originally appeared in The Rolling Stones: Inside the Voodoo Lounge, a one-shot magazine sold at venues and newsstands during the Rolling Stones’ 1994-1995 World Tour.

The recordings of the Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, and Chuck Leavell interviews are already available on YouTube. I hope you enjoy these conversations!

Thanks to Max Chace for sharing his always-excellent photography, and to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for filming the podcast intro and enhancing the sound of the 30-year-old master tape.

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